Products

Savor Summer with These Six Outdoor Pieces

Minimal forms and resilient materials suit these furnishings for use outdoors.

Whether your clients are sweating out the hot months or savoring the climate of a more temperate region than that of ARCHITECT’s home in Washington, D.C., summer is a time for shedding layers. That applies to products, too. These furnishings convey visual lightness and minimize the use of materials to bring a breath of fresh air to outdoor spaces.

Eames Wire Chair, Vitra Charles and Ray Eames’ iconic 1951 design has a new life outdoors, thanks to the addition of powdercoated finishes in black, gray, and cream by Swiss furniture maker Vitra. Made of bent and welded steel wire, the Wire Chair’s seat and back are supported by a four-legged base with cross struts. An indoor version of the piece includes a chrome-plated finish and leather and hopsack upholstery.

Vitra

Ipnos, Flos Milan-based lighting design studio Rossi Bianchi pared down the form of a conventional lantern to reveal a slender, structural metal frame with inset illumination. For use indoors and outdoors, the Modern Ipnos is shaped by extruded and anodized aluminum profiles and weighs 2 lbs. Dimmable LEDs are integrated in the 15W fixture’s upper edge to provide 2700K light at a color rendering index of 85. A transparent, methacrylate top can be specified to turn the luminaire into a table. Black, bronze, and natural finishes are offered.

Flos

Kettal Mesh, Patricia Urquiola for Kettal Designer Patricia Urquiola taps the light-filtering qualities of an open architectural façade for her collection of aluminum mesh furniture for Kettal. Used on two tables and a sofa, the mesh provides visual simplicity and structural support. Offered in an array of colorful finishes.

Kettal

Social Circle, Sticks + Stones This indoor-outdoor fire pit from Vancouver, British Columbia–based Sticks + Stones offers an elegant alternative for a typically rugged application. Smooth concrete forms make up the fire pit and benches, with seats demarcated by western red cedar slabs. Built to accommodate six people comfortably, the units’ parallel geometries tie the installation together.

Sticks & Stones Furniture

Flux, Link Outdoor The gap between contemporary and traditional design styles can be tricky to bridge, particularly for an outdoor space whose aesthetic depends on an application’s context. Link Outdoor’s latest collection of outdoor chairs and tables aims to find that balance by fabricating modern designs with classical undertones out of contemporary materials—that is, powdercoated aluminum with teak and glass finishes. The 18-piece Flux collection will launch at the end of the year.

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About the Author

Hallie Busta is an associate editor of products and technology at ARCHITECT, Architectural Lighting, and Residential Architect. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill school and a LEED Green Associate credential. Previously, she wrote about building-material sales and distribution at Hanley Wood. Follow her on Twitter at @HallieBusta.